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Informal Meeting of Environment Ministers

Informal Meeting of Environment Ministers

Date:

11.04. - 12.04.2008

Venue:

Brdo

Policy area:

Environment

Type of event:

Informal Ministerial Meetings

More:

In terms of subject matter, the meeting was dedicated to the following two priorities of the Slovenian Presidency and, more specifically, on ways to achieve greater synergy between, on the one hand, stepping up action against climate change and, on the other, the conservation of biodiversity. Debate on biodiversity, biomass and biofuels focused particularly on forest biodiversity as providing both a challenge and an opportunity for mitigating climate change. The emphasis was on the sustainable use of forest biomass for energy, including second-generation biofuels, and on determining sustainable criteria for the use of forest biomass.

The ministerial meeting commenced on Friday 11 April, with an opening concert in the National Gallery in Ljubljana. The morning of day two of the conference was devoted to the main ministerial meeting at the Brdo Congress Centre. The introductory address by the Presidency was followed by presentations by the invited speakers. The subsequent discussion involved the Ministers, representatives of the European Commission, European Parliament, European Environment Agency and the European Environmental Bureau.

After the meeting, the Ministers planted a few trees at Brdo, symbolising their commitment to combating climate change.

The Presidency wished to bring the key messages of the ministerial meeting closer to the general public and to individuals, who by their actions can significantly contribute to the sustainable use of natural resources and, thus, help offset climate change. An exhibition on innovative environmental technologies related to second-generation biofuels was therefore organised in the context of the ministerial meeting. The participating countries were invited to present their good practices on display boards installed in Ljubljana city centre. The Ministers for the Environment visited the exhibition on Saturday 12 April 2008, during an afternoon walk through the centre of Ljubljana. Afterwards, they also visited Postojna Caves, the most famous Slovenian underground karst cave system.